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pangram

noun: A sentence that makes use of all the letters of the alphabet.

From Greek pan- (all) + -gram (something written).

Many typists know "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" as a thirty-three-letter sentence that employs every letter in the alphabet at least once. Now fix your eyes on a sampling of the best pangrams of even fewer letters. What you are about to see are meaningful sentences that avoid obscure words yet contain every letter of the alphabet:

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. (thirty-two letters)
Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz. (thirty-one)
How quickly daft jumping zebras vex. (thirty)
Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim. (twenty-nine)
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud. (twenty-eight)
Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymph. (twenty-seven)

And now, wordaholics, logolepts, lexicomanes, and verbivores -- the Peter Pangram of all pangrams --

Mr. Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx. (twenty-six!)

If you can come up with a twenty-six letter pangram that makes easy sense and does not resort to names, initials, or mutant words, please rush it to me at richard.lederer@pobox.com.

This week's theme: Words about wordplay by guest wordsmith Richard Lederer

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